August 25, 2011

Or else

Labour MP Shane Jones has indicated he is weighing up his future in politics if he does not get strong endorsement from Maori voters in November’s general election.

Mr Jones said on Te Kaea on Maori Television he wanted to win the Tamaki Makaurau seat – currently held by Maori Party leader Pita Sharples – and if he did not he would “reconsider my options”.

Asked to clarify his comments by the Herald yesterday, he said winning the seat would give him a strong platform for “future developments” in his political career.

“If that doesn’t come to pass, a whole bunch of other factors have to be weighed up. If I don’t win the seat, then I’ll assess what happens – whether or not I stay on and look to play a more meaningful role in politics, or whatever.”

This is about what happened in the Te Tai Tokurau by-election. The main problem with Kelvin Davis’ campaign was that he was already in Parliament, so voters could cast their vote for Hone Harawira and they’d still have Davis, but if they voted for Davis they lost Harawira.

So Jones is sending a signal that even though he’s a list MP, if the voters of Tamaki Makaurau don’t support him as an electorate MP they won’t get the same ‘two for the price of one’ reward for voting strategically. Although . . . they probably will because the only reason you issue a threat this deliberately vague is so you can go back on it after the election.

Like this:

Related

I think this is also about solidifying his position within Labour for the future,

Shane knows that there is going to be a huge amount of blood letting should labour loose the election badly and the whole “I’m a red blooded man” porn episode will have made him off side with certain powerful sections of the party. Being an electorate MP gives you a whole lots more security than someone whose place in parliament relies on the grace of head office….

Well, if you look at it this way there’s never been a leader or deputy who didn’t already hold an electorate seat, the same seems to hold for top cabinet positions.

(Obvious examples are only applicable for newcomers, e.g Brash, Joyce, and Jones has been in Parliament for six years now)

Also, while checking this I realized that Anne Tolley is ranked #8 on the ’08 National Party list…I hope they have some sort of contingency plan where people ranked higher than her make sure not to cross the road in front of buses at the same time or anything..

“You know, I almost made that the title of the post, but decided not to go there.”

Yup, If you had used that line of dialogue it would have been your most incendiary ever.

Hobbes, just like many National MPs over the years have thought that Nick Smith’s natural party was the old Alliance few have been able to understand how Jones ended up in Labour. His anarchic nature, affinity for business, and belief that Maori need a strong economic base and good educations – of all kinds – to generate tino rangitiratanga do not make him a natural member of the Labour caucus. I think Labour made the best offer and he thought the wave Labour were riding would last a bit longer.

Jeez you must be young Sam or your parents have recklessly disregarded an important part of your upbringing. Repeat after me: “excuse me while I whip this out”; “A wed wose. How womantic.” ;”Mongo only pawn… in game of life”; “God darnit, Mr. Lamarr, you use your tongue prettier than a twenty dollar whore.”; “Oh, it’s twue. It’s twue. It’s twue, it’s twue!”;

Leader of Senate: All fellow members of the Roman senate hear me. Shall we continue to build palace after palace for the rich? Or shall we aspire to a more noble purpose and build decent housing for the poor? How does the senate vote?
Entire Senate: FUCK THE POOR!

Madame DeFarge: We are so poor, we do not even have a language! Just this stupid accent!
Fellow Revolutionist: She’s right, she’s right! We all talk like Maurice Chevalier![impersonates the Chevalier laugh]
Fellow Revolutionist: Au-haw-haw.
Crowd: Au-haw-haw.

It is true, I may not even have been born when the movie was released (same year though), but I have seen it as a child (not old enough to appreciate it obviously). Even so, it still seems pretty slapstick (which doesn’t really appeal), but I’ll have to give it another watch – for cultural reasons of course…

I think my Mum was a fan, but then, she enjoyed “Top Secret!” as well…

You’d think politicians would learn that when you threaten to flounce out of the room, you better check there aren’t people lining up to hold the door and help you with your coat… Yeah, the guy’s useful as the caucus brown-neck (i.e. someone who can say shit about the Maori Party the whitefellas can’t without sounding like racist shits) but that’s about it.